Women in Space: Dr. Anna Fisher, one of the 'Original Six' - SpaceFlight Insider Spaceflight Insider Mission Monitor Women in Space: Dr. Anna Fisher, one of the ‘Original Six’ Fisher in front of a rack of spacesuits at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Photo Credit: NASA J.D. Taylor April 30th, 2015 SpaceFlight Insider and USA in Space recently had a chance to interview U.S. astronaut Dr. Anna Lee Tingle Fisher. In 1978, Dr. Fisher was in the first group of six women ever selected to be American astronauts. Prior to 1978, women were not allowed into NASA’s Astronaut Training Program . In fact, the only woman to have gone into space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who went into space in 1963. Dr. Fisher was selected for NASA’s Space Shuttle program. She was one of six women in a group of 35, known as NASA’s Astronaut Group 8 . It had been almost 10 years since the Apollo era Group 7 was selected.

NASA had decided that they no longer needed just military pilots, they needed people with a high degree of academics and now they wanted to include women in the selection process. All six women selected had doctorate degrees in ‘ STEM ‘ (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields or in medicine. They were both highly educated and motivated. Fisher’s official NASA portrait. Photo Credit: NASA Dr. Fisher is a chemist, a medical doctor, specializing in emergency medicine, and is a NASA astronaut . Today, at the age of 65, Fisher is the oldest active American astronaut. During her career at NASA, she has been involved with three major programs: the Shuttle Program, the International Space Station, and NASA’s new crew-rated spacecraft – Orion . Fisher said she knew she wanted to become an astronaut at the age of 12 when she heard the voice of Alan Shepard over the radio on his sub-orbital flight. In her dealings with NASA, she never felt any discrimination and felt that NASA was welcoming the women into the program. In fact, she said that she felt more negative attitudes in college against her becoming a doctor than she did by NASA in becoming an astronaut.

Once she was accepted into the program, she knew there was a spotlight on all of them. They all knew, that from this group, the first American woman astronaut would be selected. Dr. Fisher said it did not matter to the group, who was selected to be the first American woman Astronaut. Just knowing that there was going to be a first woman was more important to them than who it was. They all understood the importance of being a contributing part of the space program and to pave the way for women in the future. Dr. Sally Ride was selected and made the historic flight on STS-7 on June 18, 1983, becoming America’s first woman astronaut . The SYNCOM IV-1 defense communications satellite is deployed out of Discovery’s payload bay during STS-51A. Photo Credit: NASA On November 8, 1984, Dr. Fisher launched into space on the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) . For Fisher, this was a dream come true. As a mother, this meant she was the first mother in space. She said that she most enjoyed the thrill of the launch and time spent looking out the windows at the Earth passing so fast below.

One of her favorite moments in space was looking into the cargo bay of the Shuttle and seeing the two satellites they had captured from their orbits in space. The two satellites were secured in the shuttle bay earlier in the mission. The STS-51-A mission marked the first time a shuttle deployed two communications satellites, and then retrieved from orbit two other communications satellites. The Anik D-2 and Syncom IV-1 satellite were deployed and Westar 6 and Palapa B2 satellite were retrieved. She spent 7 days, 23 hours, and 44 minutes in space and had completed 127 orbits of the Earth before landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Dr. Fisher was assigned to be on the flight manifest for the launch after the next Challenger shuttle launch . On Jan. 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The Shuttle Program was grounded until a cause and a fix could be made. Mission patch for STS-51A.

Image Credit: NASA Two years later, on September 29, 1988, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off, signifying a “Return to Flight”. This flight was commanded by astronaut Frederick Hauck who was also on STS-51A with Fisher, but Fisher was not part of this mission. With the birth of a second daughter, Dr. Fisher took a leave of absence to raise her kids. She returned to NASA seven years later in 1996 and discovered that the agency she returned to, was not the one she had remembered. They were developing processes and procedures for the new International Space Station (ISS) program. Fisher became the chief of the Space Station branch and was able to use the experience of working through all of the issues that came up in the beginning of the Shuttle Program to help alleviate those same types of issues in that were coming up at the beginning of the ISS program. Dr. Fisher continues to use her experience to contribute to the success of NASA as it starts of the Commercial Crew Program and the Orion Program. Pioneering women like Fisher helped to pave the way for many U.S. women astronauts and she continues to be an inspiration to many.

Anna Fisher | 46BLYZ History , Inspiring , Manned Spaceflight NASA Astronaut Group 8 class logo – Credit: NASA On January 16, 1978, NASA selected its first group of new astronauts since 1969. This new class of 35 astronaut candidates was named Astronaut Group 8, but colloquially referred to as the “TFNG: 35 New Guys” 1 While there were 35 members of the class, for the first time they couldn’t all be referred to as “guys”. Astronaut Group 8 would produce many firsts in the way of diversity: the first African-American in space, the first Asian-American in space, and the first Jewish-American, among others. Today we highlight the six women of Astronaut Group 8: Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L. Fisher and Sally K. Ride. These would become America’s first female space explorers. From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L.

Fisher, and Sally K. Ride. NASA selected all six women as their first female astronaut candidates in January 1978, allowing them to enroll in a training program that they completed in August 1979. – Credit: NASA Shannon W. Lucid Shannon Lucid in 1978 – Source: NASA Out of the six women of Astronaut Group 8, Shannon Lucid spent more time in space and flew on the most spaceflights. By the time she retired from NASA, she had flown to space on five separate flights and held a number of NASA spaceflight records as a result of her prolonged stay on the now-extinct Russian space station, Mir; Lucid was the only American woman that had the honor of serving upon Mir. In 1996, she became the first woman to receive a Congressional Space Medal of Honor which are awarded to astronauts “who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and of mankind”. (Uhh, “his” and “himself”?

Ahem!) Of the six women in her class, Lucid was the only mother at the time of selection into the astronaut program (though, she wasn’t the first mother in space… we’ll get to that in a minute). Lucid spent a total of 223 days, 2 hours, and 50 minutes in space during her career. After her tenure as an astronaut, Lucid served as NASA’s Chief Scientist from February 2002 until September 2003. She also served as CAPCOM during numerous Space Shuttle and International Space Station crews. She retired from NASA in 2012. Margaret Rhea Seddon Margaret Rhea Seddon in 1978 – Source: NASA Margaret Rhea Seddon was the first medical doctor to travel to space. During her years as an astronaut, she flew on three separate missions. Her medical expertise was invaluable for the numerous experiments that she worked on during her missions in space, as well as the research she conducted on Earth. In 1981, Seddon married fellow Group 8 astronaut Robert L. Gibson and the two became the first active duty married astronauts.

During her three space flights, Seddon spent a total of 30 days, 2 hours, and 21 minutes in space. Her responsibilities during her 19 years at NASA included: helicopter search and rescue physician, serving on the NASA Life Sciences Advisory Committee and the NASA and International Bioethics Task Forces, and in-flight medical operations. While an active-duty astronaut, she continued to work part-time as an emergency room physician in various hospitals. Seddon retired from NASA in 1997, remaining active in the medical community. Kathryn D. Sullivan Kathryn D. Sullivan in 1990 – Source: NASA Kathryn D. Sullivan made history in 1984 when she became the first American woman to conduct an EVA (extravehicular activity), spacewalking for 3-1/2 hours to demonstrate the feasibility of satellite refueling. This accomplishment came on her very first trip into space, during STS-41-G. In total, Sullivan visited space during three missions: STS-41-G, STS-31, and STS-45.

STS-31 was an especially important mission, as they carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, deploying it at an orbit altitude record at the time, of 612 kilometers (380 miles). Her work on STS-45, her final space voyage, included a number of research experiments as part of the Spacelab mission dedicated to the NASA ‘Mission to Planet Earth’. The results of that research provided a wealth of information about Earth’s climate and atmosphere. During her three flights, she spent a total of 22 days, 4 hours, and 49 minutes in space. In 2014, Sullivan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. Anna L. Fisher Anna Lee Fisher in 1980 – Credit: John Bryson In 1984, Anna Lee Fisher became the first mother in space. You might not immediately realize the significance of this, but I think it’s an important first. In the 1980s women were still fighting to be considered equals among men in the workplace.

Much more so than now, moms were generally expected to stay home and raise the children while the fathers worked. So here you have a mother that not only does everything a mother does, but she works hard, trains to become an astronaut, and travels to space. Cracking the glass ceiling? More like smashing through Earth’s atmosphere! Fisher is also extremely educated: she earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1971, a Doctor of Medicine in 1976, and also earned a Master of Science in Chemistry in 1987–all from UCLA. During her single flight, she spent 7 days, 23 hours, and 45 minutes in space. As of 2014, Fisher was listed as a management astronaut with NASA and was working on NASA’s next generation crewed space program, among other duties. (As an aside, the image of Anna Fisher above is one of my all-time favorite space images. The look of wonder and courage in her eyes stimulates some of the same emotions I had as a child watching these people take their trips into the skies in their shuttles.

It represents a moment in our collective history, in which were just beginning to establish ourselves in a world that was much bigger than we had ever known before.) Sally K. Ride Sally Ride in 1984 – Source: NASA Sally Kristen Ride made history on June 18, 1983, when she became the first American woman in space (Russia put the first two women into space: Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya). On that mission, STS-7, she also became the first woman to operate the shuttle’s robotic arm and the first to use it to retrieve a satellite from orbit. She flew a second flight in 1984, STS-41-G, with fellow Group 8 member Kathryn Sullivan. During her two missions, she spent a total of 14 days, 7 hours, and 46 minutes in space. In an interview with USA Today : In elementary school, there (were) lots of girls who were interested in science, and that’s true today. For whatever reason, I didn’t succumb to the stereotype that science wasn’t for girls. I got encouragement from my parents.

I never ran into a teacher or a counselor who told me that science was for boys. A lot of my friends did. Following the Challenger disaster, Ride served as a member of the Presidential Commission that investigated the accident. After NASA, Ride founded Sally Ride Science , a non-profit organization with a mission to “inspire young people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to promote STEM literacy.” Ride was always humble about it, but she was, and still is, a true inspiration to millions. Ride passed away on July 23, 2012, while battling pancreatic cancer. Judith A. Resnik Judith Resnik in 1978 – Source: NASA Not all of these stories have as happy of an ending as one would hope. On her second Shuttle mission, Judy Resnik was assigned to STS-51-L aboard Challenger. 73 seconds after lift-off, Challenger’s rocket boosters exploded and the orbiter broke apart. All seven members of the crew lost their lives. Resnik earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1970, and a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from University of Maryland in 1977.

Resnik’s first flight (STS-41-D), in 1984, made her the second American female in space, and the first Jewish-American in space. That mission had the crew deploy three satellites into orbit, as well as deploy the OAST-1 solar array. The array, once unfolded, was 13 feet wide and 102 feet long–“it’s up, and it’s big!” she reported to mission control. When folded, it was a mere 7 inches deep. The array demonstrated the feasibility of large lightweight solar arrays in space. Her total time in space as a result of that mission was 6 days, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds. Resnik was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Judy Resnik aboard orbiter Discovery, during STS-41-D – Source: NASA Spaceflight Forums Legacy NASA’s first female astronauts – From left to right: Seddon, Sullivan, Resnik, Ride, Fisher, Lucid- Source: NASA As of May 2015, nearly 60 women have flown into space.

Along with Russian cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya, these are the women that demolished barriers and showed the world that anyone that had the drive and work ethic required could make it in any industry that they desired to be a part of. Inside the space program, TFNG was a play on an off-color military phrase. ↩ Subscribe to our mailing list * indicates required More info: Like many youngsters who saw Alan Shepard become the first American to travel into space, Anna Fisher had dreamed of becoming an astronaut since the age of 12. However, as she got older, the dream seemed to become less realistic. “All the astronauts were pilots, and it never occurred to me to join the military at that time,” said Fisher, who did go on to become an astronaut — the first mother in space, in fact. However, she was undeterred and went on to become a chemist and a medical doctor, thinking she could be a doctor or a scientist on a space station someday. Then, she heard that NASA was accepting applications for the space program. The deadline was a month away, but both she and her fiance applied and less than two months later, she was interviewing for the job.

“I still remember the form,” she laughed. “It was the same you fill out for any job as a civil servant, like if you want to work for the post office, except in the blank where you write the position you’re applying for, I wrote missions specialist astronaut.” Fisher was a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 8, 1984. As the first space salvage mission, the crew retrieved two satellites for return to earth. Discovery completed 127 Earth orbits before landing at Kennedy Space Center. Fisher, who still works for NASA, will speak to Vail audiences at the annual Women’s Foundation of Colorado Luncheon on Wednesday, especially addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. We caught up with her before she made the trip to Vail to talk about space travel and the challenges of being a pioneering woman in her fields. Vail Daily: Tell us about being a mission specialist. What was the significance of your space mission? Anna Fisher: I got to go up in 1984, which was a really exciting flight. We were the first to go up and try to bring hardware back — two communication satellites the size of small school buses.

We (NASA) had done some work on the moon, which has a bit of gravity, but that’s a different thing from complete weightlessness, so we weren’t sure exactly how it was going to work. These satellites weren’t designed to be retrieved. It was a complicated process, but we did bring them back. Afterward, we were pinching ourselves, thinking, ‘Can you believe we really did this in this environment?’ No one said it, but we all must have wondered inside beforehand if we could pull it off. VD: Did being a mother and having a family affect your decision process to go on the mission? AF: When I was assigned to my flight, it was two weeks before I delivered my daughter. I had made that commitment already when I applied to be an astronaut, and so many people wanted that spot. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to fly that flight. VD: What were some of your most special moments from your time in space? AF: My whole memory of my period is how intense it all was. It was special because we were so intimately involved in the design of the mission, which is unlike now, where someone else designs and plans everything and you go and execute it.

For example, one of my crew members designed the hardware that eventually brought the satellite back. There was also the beauty of looking at the earth — we took an hour every night after we’d completed our tasks and prepared for the next day to watch the earth go by. It’s almost impossible to capture how beautiful it is. You could see meteors going by below you. It looks just like shooting stars you see on earth, except they’re below you. VD: In terms of being in a STEM field, what challenges have you faced as a woman? AF: My fellow female colleagues will say this as well, but we all come from fields that required us to face challenges all along the way. I was a chemist, and there were almost no women in that program. Then I went to medical school and there were barely any women there. Our class had about 16 women in a class of 150 people. NASA had already committed to accepting women before I arrived, so when you came, you actually felt welcome. I think some people probably wondered how we would do, but overall I felt they were rooting for our success. There was the pressure that I put on myself.

Because I felt I was representing women who would come after me, I felt the pressure that failure wasn’t an option. VD: What encouragement do you have for other women and girls in terms of STEM careers? AF: I’d like to say that a lot of the focus today is on how you look and dress, and I’d like to encourage young women that the most important thing is how you use your brain. STEM fields can be just as exciting as being an actress or a rock star, even more so, I think. I think the space program is just going to get more exciting. I’d encourage girls not to say, “That’s beyond me.” A lot of us didn’t think we were smart enough to do this, either, and it’s not that daunting once you get into it. Assistant Managing Editor Melanie Wong can be reached at 970-748-2927 and mwong@vaildaily.com . Follow her on Twitter @mwongvail. Fisher Fisher Credit: American physician mission specialist astronaut 1980-1991. First mother in space. Was married to astronaut William Fisher. Took extended leave 1989 to 1996 to raise family.

Status: Inactive; Active 1980-1991. Born: 1949-08-24. Spaceflights: 1 . Total time in space: 7.10 days. Birth Place: New York, New York. Grew up in San Pedro, California. Educated UCLA. Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:Anna L. Fisher (M.D.) NASA Astronaut PERSONAL DATA:ï¿½ Born August 24, 1949, in New York City, New York, but considers San Pedro, California, to be her hometown.ï¿½ Fisher enjoys snow and water skiing, jogging, flying, scuba diving, reading, photography and spending time with her daughters.ï¿½ Her mother, Riley F.

Tingle, formerly of San Pedro, now resides in Houston.ï¿½ Her father is deceased.ï¿½ EDUCATION:ï¿½ Graduated from San Pedro High School, San Pedro, California, 1967; received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 1971 and 1976, respectively; received a Master of Science in Chemistry from UCLA, 1987. SPECIAL HONORS:ï¿½ Awarded a National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 1970, 1971;ï¿½ Graduated from UCLA cum laude and with honors in chemistry;ï¿½ NASA Space Flight Medal; Lloyd’s of London Silver Medal for Meritorious Salvage Operations; Mother of the Year Award, 1984; UCLA Professional Achievement Award; UCLA Medical Professional Achievement Award; NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 1999.

EXPERIENCE:ï¿½ After graduating from UCLA in 1971, Fisher spent a year in graduate school, working in the field of x-ray crystallographic studies of metallocarbonanes.ï¿½ She co-authored three publications relating to these studies for the Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. ï¿½She began medical school at UCLA in 1972 and, following graduation in 1976, commenced a one year internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California.ï¿½ After completing that internship, she specialized in emergency medicine and worked in several hospitals in the Los Angeles area.

NASA EXPERIENCE:ï¿½ Fisher was selected as an astronaut by NASA in January 1978.ï¿½ In August 1979, she completed a one year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on space shuttle flight crews.ï¿½ Following her completion of training, Fisher’s early NASA assignments (pre-STS-1 through STS-4) included the following:ï¿½ crew representative to support development and testing of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS); crew representative to support development and testing of payload bay door contingency spacewalk procedures, the extra-small Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) and contingency in-orbit Thermal Protection System (TPS) repair hardware and procedures; verification of flight software at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), where she reviewed test requirements and procedures for ascent, in-orbit and Risk Management System (RMS) software verification; and crew evaluator for verification and development testing for STS-2, 3 and 4.

From STS-5 through STS-7, Fisher was assigned as a crew representative to support vehicle integrated testing and payload testing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida.ï¿½ In addition, Fisher supported each Orbital Flight Test (STS-1 through STS-4) launch and landing (at prime or backup sites) as a physician in the rescue helicopter and provided both medical and operational inputs on the development of rescue procedures.ï¿½ Fisher was also an in-orbit Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for the STS-9 mission. Fisher was a mission specialist on STS-51A, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, on November 8, 1984.ï¿½ She was accompanied by mission commander Frederick (Rick) Hauck pilot David M. Walker, and fellow mission specialists, Joseph P. Allen and Dale H.

Gardner.ï¿½ This was the second flight of the orbiter Discovery.ï¿½ During the mission, the crew deployed two satellites:ï¿½ Canada’s Anik D-2 (Telesat H) and Hughes’ LEASAT-1 (Syncom IV-1) and operated the Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME) device and the 3M Company’s Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS) experiment.ï¿½ As the first space salvage mission, the crew also retrieved the Palapa B-2 and Westar VI satellites for return to Earth.ï¿½ STS-51A completed 127 Earth orbits before landing at Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 1984.ï¿½ With the completion of her first flight, Fisher logged a total of 192 hours in space.

Fisher was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-61H, prior to the Challenger accident.ï¿½ Following the accident, she worked as the deputy of the Mission Development branch of the Astronaut Office and as the astronaut office representative for Flight Data File issues.ï¿½ In that capacity, she served as the crew representative on the Crew Procedures Change Board.ï¿½ Fisher served on the Astronaut Selection Board for the 1987 class of astronauts.ï¿½ Fisher also served in the Space Station Support office, where she worked part time in the Space Station Operations branch.ï¿½ She was the crew representative supporting space station development in the areas of training, operations concepts and the health maintenance facility. From 1989 through 1995, Fisher was on a leave of absence from the Astronaut Office to raise her family, returning in January 1996.

From 1996 through 2002, during the early phase of building the International Space Station (ISS), Fisher was the chief of the Space Station branch.ï¿½ In that capacity, she coordinated inputs to the operations of the space station for the Astronaut Office, working closely with all the international partners and supervising assigned astronauts and engineers.ï¿½ From January 2011 through August 2013, Fisher served as an ISS Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) working in the Mission Control Center and was also the lead CAPCOM for Expedition 33. Currently, Fisher is a management astronaut, working on display development for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and supports European payloads for the ISS Integration branch. JULY 2014 NAME: Anna L. Fisher, (M.D.) NASA Astronaut PERSONAL DATA: Born August 24, 1949, in New York City, New York, but considers San Pedro, California, to be her hometown. Married to Dr. William F. Fisher of Dallas, Texas. They have two children.

She enjoys snow and water skiing, jogging, flying, scuba diving, reading, photography, and spending time with her daughters. Her mother, Mrs. Riley F. Tingle, resides in San Pedro, California. Father, deceased, July 3, 1982. His mother, Mrs. Russell F. Fisher, resides in Winter Park, Florida. His father is deceased. EDUCATION: Graduated from San Pedro High School, San Pedro, California, in 1967; received a bachelor of science in Chemistry and a doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1971 and 1976, respectively; completed a 1-year internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California, in 1977; received a master of science in Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1987. SPECIAL HONORS: Awarded a National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research Fellowship in 1970, 1971. Graduated from UCLA cum laude and with honors in chemistry. Recipient of: NASA Space Flight Medal; Lloyd's of London Silver Medal for Meritorious Salvage Operations.

EXPERIENCE: After graduating from UCLA in 1971, Dr. Fisher spent a year in graduate school in chemistry at UCLA working in the field of x-ray crystallographic studies of metallocarbonanes. She co-authored 3 publications relating to these studies for the Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. She began medical school at UCLA in 1972 and, following graduation in 1976, commenced a 1-year internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California. After completing that internship, she specialized in emergency medicine and worked in several hospitals in the Los Angeles area. NASA EXPERIENCE: Dr. Fisher was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a one year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Dr. Fisher's NASA assignments have included the following: Crew representative to support development and testing of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). Crew representative to support development and testing of payload bay door contingency EVA procedures, the extra-small Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), and contingency on-orbit TPS repair hardware and procedures.

Verification of flight software at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) -- in that capacity she reviewed test requirements and procedures for ascent, on-orbit, and RMS software verification -- and served as a crew evaluator for verification and development testing for STS-2, 3 and 4. For STS-5 through STS-7 Dr. Fisher was assigned as a crew representative to support vehicle integrated testing and payload testing at KSC. In addition, Dr. Fisher supported each Orbital Flight Test (STS 1-4) launch and landing (at either a prime or backup site) as a physician in the rescue helicopters, and provided both medical & operational inputs to the development of rescue procedures. Dr. Fisher was also an on-orbit CAPCOM for the STS-9 mission. Dr. Fisher was a mission specialist on STS-51A which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 8, 1984. She was accompanied by Captain Frederick (Rick) Hauck (spacecraft commander), Captain David M. Walker (pilot), and fellow mission specialists, Dr. Joseph P. Allen, and Commander Dale H. Gardner.

This was the second flight of the orbiter Discovery. During the mission the crew deployed two satellites, Canada's Anik D-2 (Telesat H) and Hughes' LEASAT-1 (Syncom IV-1), and operated the Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME) device, and the 3M Company's Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS) experiment. In the first space salvage mission in history the crew also retrieved for return to earth the Palapa B-2 and Westar VI satellites. STS-51A completed 127 orbits of the Earth before landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 16, 1984. With the completion of her first flight, Dr. Fisher has logged a total of 192 hours in space. Dr. Fisher was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-61H prior to the Challenger accident. Following the accident she worked as the Deputy of the Mission Development Branch of the Astronaut Office, and as the astronaut office representative for Flight Data File issues. In that capacity she served as the crew representative on the Crew Procedures Change Board. Dr.

Fisher served on the Astronaut Selection Board for the 1987 class of astronauts. Dr. Fisher also served in the Space Station Support Office where she worked part-time in the Space Station Operations Branch. She was the crew representative supporting space station development in the areas of training, operations concepts, and the health maintenance facility. Dr. Fisher returned to the Astronaut Office in 1996 after a few years leave of absence to raise her family. She is currently assigned to the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch working on the operational flight data file and training issues in support of the international space station. FEBRUARY 1997 Astronaut Anna Fisher poses near a 3M experiment involving the DMOS Credit: NASA 1949 August 24 - . Birth of Dr Anna Lee Tingle Fisher - . Nation: USA . Related Persons: Fisher . American physician mission specialist astronaut. Flew on STS-51-A. First mother in space. Was married to astronaut William Fisher. Took extended leave 1989 to 1996 to raise family.. 1978 January 16 - . NASA Astronaut Training Group 8 selected. - . Nation: USA .

Related Persons: Bluford , Brandenstein , Buchli , Coats , Covey , Creighton , Fabian , Fisher , Gardner , Gibson , Gregory , Griggs , Hart , Hauck , Hawley , Hoffman , Lucid , McBride , McNair , Mullane , Nagel , Nelson , Onizuka , Resnik , Ride , Scobee , Seddon , Shaw , Shriver , Stewart , Sullivan . The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights. Recruit women and minorities to introduce diversity into the astronaut corps. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm. Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree.

Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 8,079 applicants, of which half met the basic qualifications. 208 invited for physical tests and interviews. Of the 35 selected, six were women, three were male African-Americans, and one was a male Asian-American. 1984 September - . 1984 November 8 - . 12:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A . Launch Platform: MLP2. LV Family: Shuttle . Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle . STS-51-A - . Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Allen , Fisher , Gardner , Hauck , Walker, Dave . Payload: Discovery F02 / PLT. Mass: 20,550 kg (45,300 lb). Nation: USA . Related Persons: Allen , Fisher , Gardner , Hauck , Walker, Dave . Agency: NASA Houston . Program: STS . Class: Manned .

Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-51-A . Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle . Spacecraft: Discovery . Duration: 7.99 days. Decay Date: 1984-11-16 . USAF Sat Cat: 15382 . COSPAR: 1984-113A. Apogee: 297 km (184 mi). Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Inclination: 28.4000 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Manned five crew. First retrieval of two satellites (PALAPA B-2 and WESTAR Vl) for return to earth. Deployed Anik D2, Leasat 2; recovered Westar 6, Palapa B2. Payloads: Telesat (Canada communications satellite)-H with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D deploy-ment, Syncom IV-1 communications satellite deployment with its unique stage, retrieval of PALAPA B-2 and WESTAR VI communications satellites with PAM-D which failed to ignite on the STS-41-B mission.

Manned maneuvering unit (MMU) used for retrieval. Diffusive Mixing of Organic Solutions (DMOS) experiment. 1984 November 16 - . Landing of STS-51-A - . Return Crew: Allen , Fisher , Gardner , Hauck , Walker, Dave . Nation: USA . Related Persons: Allen , Fisher , Gardner , Hauck , Walker, Dave . Program: STS . Flight: STS-51-A . STS-51-A landed at 12:14 GMT. . 1986 June - .

Question: What space first is held by Anna Fisher
Answer: First mother in space